Joaquin Phoenix | Photo credit: Toby Melville
Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix’s sudden withdrawal from filmmaker Todd Haynes’ upcoming film has led to the project being cancelled.
According to US news outlets DiversityPhoenix backed out of the gay drama about two men who fall in love and flee to Mexico. The film was released five days before filming began in Guadalajara.
A source close to the production told the outlet that the “Joker” actor was “scared” about the project, for which he wrote the screenplay with Haynes and John Raymond.
Phoenix was to co-star with “Top Gun: Maverick” actor Danny Ramirez in the 1930s love story that contained “explicit sexual content.” The film was intended to receive an NC-17 rating due to its graphic sex scenes.
The role will not be recast for the film.
During the press tour for his 2023 Netflix film “May December,” director Todd Haynes told IndieWire that Phoenix was the driving force behind the project.
The filmmaker had said, “This whole experience happened because of Joaquin. It was driven by his courage, his willingness to overcome obstacles and his desire to understand the uncomfortable aspects of this relationship. And yet it felt like a very natural process.”
Phoenix, 49, will next be seen in “Joker: Folie a Deux”, a sequel to his 2019 film “Joker”, which earned him his first Oscar trophy for best actor.
Directed by Todd Phillips, the film also stars Lady Gaga in the lead role and will be released worldwide in October this year.
